I will be interested to see where Cedrick Wilson is selected in the playoff competitions this week. When he’s filled in for Michael Gallup, there hasn’t been much dropoff at that position.
There have been seven games, in fact, when the starting wide receivers have been Wilson, CeeDee Lamb and Amari Cooper. Wilson has hung with those guys at times in those seven games. Most recently, he caught 5 passes for 119 yards and 2 TDs at Philadelphia on Saturday night. He’s caught 5 TDs in those games; he also caught a touchdown and a 2-point conversion in Week 17 when coming off the bench.
I don’t think Wilson will be used as heavily as that more heralded pair. In those same seven games, Lamb has caught 34 passes for 550 yards, with 3 TDs. Cooper has caught 30 for 435, also with 3 TDs. Wilson in those games, with just over half as many targets, has caught 19 passes for 347 yards and 5 TDs.
Per-game, Wilson has averaged 50 receiving yards in those seven games – 12 behind Cooper and 29 behind Lamb. Wilson also went for 104 yards in the Thanksgiving game against the Raiders, but I’m leaving that one to the side (since neither Cooper nor Lamb was playing).
In general, I don’t think Wilson will be as good. But relative to where he’ll be picked, he looks like a better value, with more ability to outperform his cost.
Below see the individual game stats for the seven games that these three played together. Using PPR scoring, Wilson has the 2nd- and 5th-best games of the 21 (with his other five all in the bottom dozen).
Wilson will be an unrestricted free agent in the offseason. His play has been good enough that it should translate into him getting a decent contract, whether it’s from the Cowboys or someone else.
| CURRENT DALLAS TRIO OF RECEIVERS (when playing together) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Opp | Result | Tgt | Rec | Yds | TD | PPR |
| Lamb | at NWE | W 35-29 | 11 | 9 | 149 | 2 | 35.9 |
| Wilson | at PHI | W 51-26 | 6 | 5 | 119 | 2 | 28.9 |
| Cooper | at MIN | W 20-16 | 13 | 8 | 122 | 1 | 26.2 |
| Lamb | NYG | W 44-20 | 6 | 4 | 84 | 1 | 18.4 |
| Wilson | at MIN | W 20-16 | 3 | 3 | 84 | 1 | 17.4 |
| Lamb | at MIN | W 20-16 | 8 | 6 | 112 | 0 | 17.2 |
| Lamb | at LAC | W 20-17 | 9 | 8 | 81 | 0 | 16.1 |
| Cooper | CAR | W 36-28 | 3 | 3 | 69 | 1 | 15.9 |
| Cooper | NYG | W 44-20 | 6 | 3 | 60 | 1 | 15.0 |
| Cooper | at PHI | W 51-26 | 7 | 5 | 79 | 0 | 12.9 |
| Wilson | CAR | W 36-28 | 2 | 2 | 30 | 1 | 11.0 |
| Cooper | at NWE | W 35-29 | 8 | 5 | 55 | 0 | 10.5 |
| Wilson | PHI | W 41-21 | 4 | 2 | 17 | 1 | 9.7 |
| Lamb | PHI | W 41-21 | 3 | 3 | 66 | 0 | 9.6 |
| Wilson | at NWE | W 35-29 | 7 | 4 | 42 | 0 | 8.2 |
| Lamb | at PHI | W 51-26 | 2 | 2 | 45 | 0 | 6.5 |
| Cooper | PHI | W 41-21 | 4 | 3 | 26 | 0 | 5.6 |
| Cooper | at LAC | W 20-17 | 5 | 3 | 24 | 0 | 5.4 |
| Wilson | NYG | W 44-20 | 1 | 1 | 35 | 0 | 4.5 |
| Wilson | at LAC | W 20-17 | 2 | 2 | 20 | 0 | 4.0 |
| Lamb | CAR | W 36-28 | 5 | 2 | 13 | 0 | 3.3 |
—Ian Allan